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If a measure in the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act that passed during a special legislative session on education in 2021 had been active for the last school year, at least half of all third-grade students at 31 Hamilton County elementary schools would have been in danger of not being promoted to the fourth grade.
The measure, which goes into effect with the school year that just started, states that third-grade students "shall not" be promoted to fourth grade unless they receive a rating of "on track" or "mastered" on the English Language Arts (ELA) portion of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) test.
The measure, suggested by the administration of Gov. Bill Lee, was passed to place a laser focus on literacy, which was one of many subject areas in which scores had decreased statewide after virtual classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Research shows that students not on grade level by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school.
The law allows students to retake the test and score "on track" before the next school year, participate in summer camps (with 90% attendance and growth on a post-test) or be assigned a tutor for the entire next year to avoid being held back. It also allows exceptions for English language learners and any student who already has been held back a grade.
Overall, 36% of third-graders in Hamilton County were on track -- also called proficient -- in ELA in the 2021-2022 school year, according to the Tennessee Department of Education. That is 1% higher than the state average of 35% but little changed from the 2020-2021 school year.
However, more than 90% of third-graders were not proficient in the subject at five county elementary schools: Calvin Donaldson, Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence, Clifton Hills, East Side and Hardy.
In only 10 elementaries were more than half the students on track in English language arts. Those schools are Alpine Crest, Big Ridge, Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, Chattanooga School for Liberal Arts, Normal Park, Lookout Mountain, Nolan, Ooltewah, Thrasher and Westview.
Significant improvements in proficiency from the 2020-2021 school year were made at Allen (14%), Alpine Crest (15.8%), Big Ridge (17.6%), Brown Academy (13.3%), Lookout Mountain (20.6%), Hixson (12.1%), Lookout Valley (10.9%) and Normal Park (10.3%).
The largest slides in proficiency occurred at Battle Academy (11.7%), East Side (10.3%), Snow Hill (12%), Spring Creek (14.9%) and Thrasher (13.5%).
The biggest positive changes in proficiency over the last five years in which TCAP tests were taken (they were omitted during the 2019-2020 school year because of the pandemic) occurred at Alpine Crest (22%), Big Ridge (11%), Normal Park (24.6%), CSAS Lower (11.3%), Nolan (10.2%) and Ooltewah (24.2%).
Fortunately, the double-digit slides in proficiency were fewer over five years, occurring only at Harrison (12.8%), Spring Creek (19.6%) and Wallace A. Smith (11.5%).
School districts, with an eye on the train wreck that could occur if half or more of third-graders face being held back at the end of this year, have begun pushing back.
Last Monday, the Williamson County school board unanimously passed a resolution asking legislators to amend the 2021 law to keep retention decisions on the local level. It also suggests amending the law to permit districts to allow the use of school data and alternative knowledge assessments to determine if a student could move up.
The resolution went on to say that other states with similar strict retention provisions have shown mixed results and even negative outcomes for at-risk students.
About 34% of Williamson County third-graders did not reach proficiency during the 2021-2022 school year, which is nevertheless one of the five best percentages in the state.
State Rep. Mark Cochran, R-Englewood, told the Athens Daily Post Athenian last week he also has heard worries about the law.
"As with any law," he said, "you have to make sure that there is some local flexibility and not have all of the decisions come from Nashville. I think the State Board of Education has to make it where there is some local flexibility in the actual implementation of the law where schools can work with parents and teachers and ensure that the correct students are being put in this program."
We believe the comprehension of English language arts is critical in student development and understand what the Lee administration and the General Assembly wanted to do by imposing the retention criteria. But they may have set the goal too high too soon.
The state and district proverbial foot should not be taken off the pedal on any programs that aim to improve student proficiency in the subject, but -- in order to avoid a potentially embarrassing situation in which nearly three-fourths of third-graders in the state are in danger of being held back at the end of this school session -- education officials may want to consider altering the goal this year.